Part 38 – Some Hero

"W-what are you doing?!" Simon shouted, trying to cover himself with his frail arms.

He was shocked when Nell aimed a kick at the armored knight!

It hardly did any damage.

The knight simply glared down at the two of them and raised his blade into the air.

Simon cowered beneath Nell just as the knight's arm rushed down upon them.

"S-save me!" he screamed, his eyes, tightly closed.

He waited for the bearded knight's attack, but it never came.

Cautiously, he opened his eyes to peek at the situation.

It seems that the bearded knight wasn't aiming at them, after all.

He had his right arm outstretched with his left foot inside the carriage. The tip of his sword was buried deep inside the skull of the knight standing by the right door.

"Ahhh!" Simon screamed, as memory of his fallen brothers at arms filled his head.

He watched as the stabbed knight fell out of their carriage and another take his place.

This knight also had his sword drawn, and he parried the blade of the bearded knight, causing the latter to step out of the carriage once more.

The new knight entered the carriage then, looked down at Simon, and pulled his sword back to stab him.

Simon gave another scream, but the sword never found its target. He was suddenly tumbling out the carriage with Nell.

The two of them fell on the dusty ground with a thud.

The knight's blade went through the carriage seat and got stuck. He tried to pull it out, but the bearded knight was suddenly at him, slashing him at the chest.

There were three more coming up from behind their carriage now.

"W-we... we need to get out of here!" Simon finally got to say as Nell helped him stand to his feet.

He looked ahead of the procession, towards Prince Juno's carriage, dreading the worst and hoping against hope that his older brother was safe, when he saw two knights rushing to their aid.

"Those are brother Juno's knights!" he told Nell when he recognized them. "We should ask for their help!"

Simon ran towards the two, but Nell pulled him back once more.

"Don't worry, those are my brother's knights!" he assured him. "They are here to–"

Simon turned around just in time to see one of the knights pull out his sword and aim it at his chest.

"H-Help!" Simon stumbled back.

He tried to raise himself, but he was so filled with dread that he could hardly move.

He was shivering on the ground, the knight, charging at him, when Nell tried to pull him up again.

'That's right!' Simon said to himself. 'I have Nell here to save me!'

Thinking that, he was able to raise himself, but in his fright, he stumbled and pushed Nell towards the advancing charger.

Simon saw Nell's surprised expression when the veil covering his face lifted up as he fell.

It was full of disbelief and anger.

"I-I'm sorry!" Simon yelled as he turned his back to run.

He heard the crack of bone as the knight on his charger trampled over the novice priest's body.

He tried to block it out, tried to erase Nell's outraged look when he pushed him.

He tried to run and hide beneath the carriage to save his miserable life.

But he couldn't do any of these things.

The image of Nell stayed frozen in his mind's eye.

The sound of his bones breaking, repeated again and again in his ears.

Soon, he felt the cold steel of the traitor knight's blade upon his back as he tried to crawl beneath the carriage.

"Hmph. Some hero you are!" he heard the knight's contemptuous voice. "Some hero."

And that voice and that face stayed in that 'hero's' mind until he breathed his last pathetic breath.

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bad ending 💀

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